I moved into a house in Wisconsin in November, we had discussed a lease and circumstances regarding it, (Standard 12 month lease), but is was never put into play and nothing had been submitted and signed. This was a friend i was dealing with so I felt a handshake would be sufficient. The verbal agreement was a lease to own, we agreed on the price of the house and my plan was to apply for a loan as soon as possible. But while i was renting it was a standard Wisconsin lease we discussed. Move in day comes, the house was disgusting , possessions everywhere including a vehicle in the garage and a truck in the driveway, neither of which could be started, also the entire garage was filled with said car and possessions that were not moved out. The bedrooms had old furniture in them and like I said it was beyond dirty. The dishwasher was broken and filled with old moldy water, the garbage disposal was broken, the refrigerators water didn't work and the fridge doors were unaligned and didn't shut right. The basement was also filled with old appliances and other possessions that made storage in the basement impossible, the attic was also the same situation. I proceeded to discuss with him the situations, at that point we made an agreement, I was to temp store his stuff, clean the house and do/hire out x amount of repairs, being a friend and the verbal/texted confirmation of a rent to own scenario I told him, if he paid for the a new toliet,garbage disposal, dishwasher, and other necessary HO repairs at a large discount "I have a good builder connection" THat I would pay for the labor, so along with storing his possesions and detailing the household he would waive the security deposit and 1st months rent. I also put a battery in his car stored in the garage amongst other repairs to the household. Since I was doing these things already and was under the intentions of buying the house I got permission to upgrade lighting fixtures in the entire house, rerun wiring done for multi room audio, all of these things were with his permission and out of my own pocket. I have this all documented via text message stating what I wanted to do, his permission and the reason behind me doing said upgrades. I also had an electrician install new outside fixtures as there were no fixtures on the front of the house they were broken and removed exposing open wire. He eventually removes the vehicles after having me move them on several occasions and ask for buddy favors in regards to getting a quote on getting them running buying coolant for the truck. I continue to ask him for the land contract in writing almost weekly for a couple of months. I had someone come and remove all the old broken appliances in the basement so we could access the storage availability.
A few months pass and he sends me a message demanding 1st months rent and a security deposit, I explain to him our agreement and that asking me for this was similar to stealing, he makes countless threats to evict me and my family unless I give him money, it started out as an extra $500 then it goes upwards of $2300. He is all over the map and I professional disagree with him. After going back and forth with him for several days on this accusation, he plays the nice guy card and says in text, that if I hook him up with some drugs that he will forget the past debts and move forward. I am floored, hat started out as an apparent me owing him money for rent transitions to him simply wanting some drugs. Eventually after many threats I agree to give him the intial $500 because i had to much going on. At this point i realized I am dealing with an unstable person, I figure its time to cut my looses and leave. Well right around the time that this is wrapping up, the bathroom tub/shower backs up, doesnt drain and when it starts to drain it starts raining water into the foyer thru a light fixture. I bring this to his attention over text message on several occasions. We are unable to bathe/shower in the house and he needed to fix this. No response nothing, we fight thru it and it gets worse, the stadning water barely drains and the lighting fixtures start flickering on/off. I bring it to his attention about 7-10 times over text message.
A place pops up for us to move into i jump on it and move out of this place. I left the house spotless in better shape than when we moved in. I send him a letter outlining all the upgrades and repairs along with the reason we moved out. I paid him for half the month that we lived there. A couple days after we are gone, he contacts me tells me he is suing me for damages and breaking the lease he proceeds to say he is suing me for $10,000. He needs my current address and the keys to enter the house so the sheriff can do an abandonment thing. So he is assuming damages that he hasn't visibly confirmed, he is asking for the remaining month of rent but also claiming abandonment. I am very confused and simply took action because of the hazards that went unfixed, I have a family living there and it was a health and safety hazard. I didn't take any of the installed upgrades to the home, i left them there and cut my losses. He keeps sending me threats of money, damages and lawful action. I am being polite and telling him we left based on our verbal agreement, and constructive eviction based on the fact that he refused to fix the things we needed to live there. What should be next steps be here, i don't want to drag this out but at the same time i am also tired of dealing with his shit and having him intimidate and bully me.
I just want to cut my losses here, im not looking to get the lease to own agreement back in play. IS there something i should file on him? Should I stop communicating with him all together, I have no problem in responding to a lawsuit as i have all the documentation showing proof of what is going on. Im curious on worst case scenario to most likely scenario and absolute best case scenario so i can prepare myself. Also how do I go about defending myself and preparing for the worst case scenario, printed documents or things said?
Submitted May 22, 2017 at 10:25PM by ZRATED86 http://ift.tt/2qacrv2 legaladvice
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